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You can ask yourself this question: When things collapse around you, how much utility is knowledge of your own moral virtue? It’s bad to be laid low, but worse to be laid low and to know that you were at fault for it and that the things you did that you knew were wrong brought you there.

And I think you have nothing to stand on in that situation And that’s also the circumstances under which you’re more likely to be abandoned by the people around you.

Given that you know that the catastrophe is coming—that the tragedy will strike you—the question is, well, how do you fortify yourself against that? Obviously, to some degree, you do that by being materially sensible. And these old people in the Old Testament, these ancient people, they weren’t blind to the utility of having a good crop and some animals That was an integral part of their life, to take care of themselves physically But they were also wise enough to know that there’s a necessity for moral integration that defends you against the catastrophe of existence even more effectively than anything material And even more, the stability of the material things is more dependent on the integrity of your spirit than the integrity of your spirit is dependent on the material things.
Jordan Peterson, Biblical Series X: Abraham, Father of Nations